"Was finding out": Watson star Peter Mark Kendall reveals how he was kept in the dark about his character's future until the key moment

The CBS drama, Watson, introduced viewers to a legendary figure from the classic Sherlock Holmes stories. It follows Dr. John Watson, one of the oldest friends of the detective, who is now navigating a life without him.

The twin characters, Dr. Stephens Croft and Dr. Adam Croft, are played by Peter Mark Kendall, who recently opened up about the finale of Season 1. The actor shared what it was like working on the show, and surprisingly, Kendall admitted that he didn’t know what would happen to his character until the last moment.

The actor shared (via ScreenRant):

"I was finding out [their fates] as we went. I think the shooting schedule for these shows is so demanding, and so tough, and so much comes down right to the wire."

Interestingly, the finale wasn't the only thing the Watson star was unaware of, but also didn't know about the plot twists that were coming with new episodes. As seen in the last episode, the doctor comes face-to-face with his main enemy, James Moriarty.

Since the beginning, Moriarty has been planning to ruin John's life and use people against him. He knew that the doctor was navigating the pain of losing Sherlock and he wanted to use this against him.

Keep reading to know what else Peter Mark Kendall shared in the interview!

Peter Mark Kendall had no clue about the Watson finale

After a long wait, the finale of CBS's Watson has finally arrived. As previously explained, Dr. John confronted Moriarty, who had infected a pair of twin brothers, Stephens and Adam Croft, with a deadly virus.

The situation becomes incredibly tough as the team finds it hard to decide whom to save. They cannot save both of them, so the doctors flip a coin, and it favors Adam. Another key character, Ingrid Derian, who had been helping Moriarty earlier, has a change of heart as well.

She turns against him and assists Watson’s team in setting a trap. They use a lab-made disease created from Moriarty’s own DNA to try to stop him. When John finally gives Moriarty what looks like a cure, Moriarty realizes it won’t help him.

He’s about to have a stroke, and there's nothing he can do. He ends up having a seizure and dying while Watson silently watches it unfold. Since it's the last episode, fans might think Peter Mark Kendall knew that this was going to happen.

However, the actor literally had no clue about the fates, including John. In the same interview, Kendall added:

"So, shooting an episode, and then while we're at work all getting the script for the next episode, and very, very quickly scrolling through your phone, you're like, 'What happens? What happens? What happens?'"

He continued:

"Because we're finding out just as we're getting these scripts. So, it's like reading the best novel of the world, because it's being written as you're reading it."

According to Kendall, the cast only learned about the plot developments when they received each new episode’s script, which would often arrive while they were already filming the current one.

This last-minute way of working says a lot about how hectic network television can be. There's hardly any downtime, and the actors and crew are supposed to keep pace with a tight shooting schedule.

That means actors don't have much prep time — instead, they must trust their instincts and trust the writers completely to take the story in the right direction.

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Also Read: “There wasn't a lot for me to do”: When Jeffrey Dean Morgan thought he would only appear in one episode of Supernatural

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